NEW YORK, New York - Investors were cautious on Monday as geopolitical concerns gripped most markets.

Confidence that the Brexit date of 31 October could be extended, as approved by the British parliament, caused a buying surge on the pound, however any extension will have to be agreed by the EU, which on all indications is unlikely.

At the close on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 38.05 points, or 0.14%, at 26,835.51.

The Standard and Poor's 500 dipped 0.28 of a point, or 0.01%, to 2,978.43.

The Nasdaq Composite slipped 15.64 points, or 0.19%, to 8,087.44.

The British pound was trading at 1.2342 around the New York close Monday. The euro slipped a touch to 1.1047. The Japanese yen buckled, falling to 107.26. The Swiss franc also fell over, declining to 0.9921.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3164. The Australian dollar rose a few points to 0.6863, as did the News Zealand dollar to 0.6426.

On European equity markets it was a similar tale to Wall Street. The German Daxrose 0.28%. London's FTSE 100 declined 0.64%, while in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.27%.

On Asian markets, the Shanghai Composite rose 25.14 points or 0.84% to 3,024.74.

The Australian All Ords added 7.40 points or 0.11% to 6,760.10.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 118.85 points or 0.56% to 21,318.42.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng went against the trend, dropping 36.27 points or 0.14% to 26,654.49.